


Date Night 2: Bowling

by LikeMeReckless



Series: Can’t We Be Seventeen [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 06:24:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18565744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LikeMeReckless/pseuds/LikeMeReckless
Summary: This is story two in the Can’t We Be Seventeen series.  The core four go bowling to fulfill Betty’s wish list of normal teen activities.Many thanks to @jandjsalmon for her editing and suggestions!Disclaimer: The characters are not mine.  I just let them out on weekends to have a bit of fun.





	Date Night 2: Bowling

*CRASH*

The sounds of clanging crashing pins echoed through the busy alley, air thick with the remnants of smoke, cheap beer, and sweat. The hustle and bustle of competition was all around as league members shined their bowling balls and strapped on their shoes.

Veronica, who in her black fitted dress stuck out like a flamingo in the arctic, shot a look at Jughead that warned of decapitation for bringing her here.

“Remind me again why we are here?” she asked, shooting a dirty look at the scene in front of her.

“Oh come on, V! It will be fun!” cheered Betty, who knew exactly why Jughead and Archie had arranged this little double date.

A few weeks back, as life spiraled out of control, she had begged Jughead if they could just be regular teens for once and do the mundane things that other high schoolers get to do. She hadn’t really figured on them doing anything she mentioned, but leave it to her boyfriend to make sure her every whim became reality. Last weekend he had watched The Notebook and baked with her. Though, if she recalled correctly, they never did get around to eating those burnt brownies. Next on his list was bowling.

Her friend’s voice drew her out of her thoughts and back to the noisy clatter of the bowling alley.

“Seriously? You thought I was going to put on shoes that someone else has already put their feet into?” snarked Veronica, opening her large black leather purse.

“Ronnie, it’s bowling. You can’t bowl in heels,” explained Archie.

From her bag she pulled out a pair of tan, flat bowling shoes and shot her boyfriend an unpleasant glare.

“Oh, Archiekins,” Veronica laughed, tossing a look of disbelief at him. “I’m very aware of what people bowl in. But, did you really think I’d let my feet slum it in the same shoes as the rest of these degenerate bowlers?”

She let her shoes clunk to the floor and once again reached into her bag, pulling out a second pair of shoes as well.

“I’m not going to let my girl get fungus feet either just because you two need to feel manly and bang pins around for a night,”Veronica added, handing the shoes to Betty.

While the girls swapped their footwear Jughead and Archie went to rent bowling shoes.

“Sorry if I pretty much guaranteed you a rough night, Arch,” apologized Jughead while grabbing his shoes from the clerk.

Archie shook his head at Jug in response. “Don’t worry about it, bro. I tried to explain you were being romantic, but her idea of romance is a little different.”

“Boat rides on the French Riviera,” he suggested. “Candlelit dinners at a posh restaurant?”

“Something like that,” replied Archie. “It’s worth it though to see Betty happy. It’s been a rough couple of weeks for all of us and I think tonight will be fun.”

They made their way back through the bowling alley where they found the girls deep in conversation. As they approached, their chatter stopped and a conspiratorial look flashed over their faces.

“We took the liberty of making teams and arranging names on the leaderboard, gentlemen,” announced Veronica. 

Their eyes scanned upward to see Ronnie and Betty listed as a team and Beanie and Red as the other team. 

“Red?” Archie questioned with an unpleasant tone.

Veronica shrugged. “You wanted to go bowling. And we want to raise the stakes.”

Veronica’s declaration got Jughead’s attention. He swayed over towards the girls, having just put on his rented kicks for the evening, and swung an arm around Betty’s shoulders.

“And what might these stakes be?” he inquired.

Betty looked up at him, smug grin on her face and laid out their initial terms. “If we win, you and Archie wear matching pink shirts to school that say I love Betty and I love Veronica.”

“Which one would I be wearing?” teased Jughead, earning him a punch in the arm from his girlfriend.

“And what if we win?” asked Archie. “What do we get?”

Betty shrugged. “What do you want? And- no- Jug, before you ask it can’t be dirty, but it can be food.”

His face was crestfallen and he closed his mouth, words still on his tongue while Veronica laughed. He placed a hand on his chest in mock indignation.

Recovering from the blow, he and Archie moved towards the ball return to whisper their retaliations to each other. After a moment they gave each other a high five, laughing over their genius.

“Okay girls,” laughed Jughead. “If we win, Veronica, you have to wear jeans, sneakers and one of Betty’s sweaters of Archie’s choosing to school on Friday. And Betty, if we win, you have to wear one of Veronica’s typical Oscar after party gets ups of my choosing.”

Betty was just about to object when Veronica sealed their fate. “Deal,” yelled Veronica, a bit too fast for Jughead’s liking. “Game on.” 

*CRASH*

“Yes!” cried Betty, high-fiving her partner. “That’s another strike! Which puts us… where does that put us now Juggy?” 

He glared over at her and Veronica. “It puts you ahead by 11, which I believe you already knew and may, in fact, be trying to rub in.”

The current scoreboard read 170 to 181, the girls in the lead. It seemed as though they had possibly been duped by Veronica Lodge - who had not just purchased those bowling shoes for this occasion. When they had first started to keep par with the boys’ score he had questioned her about how she seemed to be a natural. Her response was simply, “They have bowling alleys in New York you morons.”

Archie grabbed his ball from the return and moved to take his place at the foul line. “Don’t worry, Jug. I got this.”

Betty and Veronica exchanged looks as Archie centered the ball in his agile hands. They would not be losing this game. They had planned this all week and Veronica already had the guys’ shirts screen printed. It was time for their Plan B: Operation Hormones as they had been calling it.

Archie inhaled and exhaled, taking a deep breath in to clear his mind and focus on the center pin. Unlike his father, he didn’t have a natural arc when he bowled, so he had to focus on a perfectly straight delivery. He bounced on the balls of his feet for a moment and began his backward stride to gain momentum for the ball.

As he moved, so did Veronica, casually walking over to the ball return, bending down to restrap her bowling shoe, folding forward at the waist, her dress rising up to show a considerable amount of leg. Archie caught sight out of the corner of his eye and his perfect center faltered, sending the ball cascading into the gutter.

The laughter and cries of the girls echoed down the alley alongside Archie’s groan.

“Not fair, Ronnie,” he whined. “You know I have no self control.”

Jughead clapped him on from the plastic chair nearby. “One more toss, Arch. You still got this.”

As the ball return burped up his lucky red ball, he cast his eyes away from Veronica and took his mark again. He chastised himself not to glance in her direction this time and got the ball settled in his palm. He took a step forward, but being Archie, he just couldn’t help himself. 

His eyes shifted slightly to the left where Veronica had grabbed Betty and was precariously close to her face, her palm behind her neck, but eyes in Archie’s direction. 

The ball left his palm and skidded quite off center down the lane, skipping the gutter unlike its predecessor, but only taking one pin down on the way.

The girls laughter rang out once again as they flopped down onto the hard plastic seats, chuckling at the dumbfounded look on Archie’s face.

“Oh, Archiekins,” teased Betty. “You are way too predictable.”

Archie slumped down next to Jughead, shaking his head. “Sorry man. I’m weak when it comes to women.”

Jug slapped a hand on his back and rose for his final throw. “No worries, my friend. I cannot be influenced by these charlatans over here- I hit all ten and we tie.”

Veronica rolled her eyes wide to Betty, sending a message that said do something. Betty rose, waiting for Jughead to get his ball. As he grabbed it, he decided to head off her attack. 

On his approach to the foul line he grabbed Betty, tipped her back with his free hand, and planted a hard, deep kiss right on her lips in the middle of the lane. Leaving her momentarily speechless he turned center and tossed the ball.

*CRACK*

Eight of the ten pins crashed to the ground, the two end pins left standing.

“Yeah,” cheered Archie, happy someone had redeemed their team.

“Betty!” Veronica chastised, not willing to lose this game. “You better do something to distract that boyfriend of yours because, no offense, I am not wearing anything from The Gap.”

Out of the blue and idea struck Betty. Jughead was still performing his little victory dance while waiting for the green ball to come back through the return. She sauntered up to him slowly and leaned in close to whisper directly in his ear.

“You were clever, Juggie, I’ll give you that,.” she breathed, taking a step in even closer to his proximity. 

His smug smile made her even more confident in her next move.

“You know what they call it when the last two pins are standing at the ends like that, Jug?” she asked.

He looked up at her perplexed. “I believe, they are called bed posts.”

Betty smiled, placing a hand on his chest. “That’s right, Jug. Bed posts. So, I give you two options. You can tie us in this game by knocking down those bed posts.”

She paused here, giving him a moment to weigh that option.

“Or,” she continued, leaning in very close to his ear, “you can choose another type of tie with another type of bed posts later tonight. Choice is yours.” 

As she sauntered away a loud *THUD* could be heard in their lane.

Without turning around Betty smiled as Veronica yelled, “Gutter ball!” and Archie could be heard shrieking, “No!”

After the game the crew found themselves in Pops, downing milkshakes and sharing an order of fries to which Jughead had insisted they add chili. They laughed over the events of the night and teased about the stakes of the game. 

Archie broke through the laughter first. “I still don’t get why you purposely tossed the game, Jug! We could have tied- you’ve hit that combo before.”

He shrugged apologetically at this friend and moved to grab another fry. 

“What can I say, Archie? I look good in pink.” He joked, popping a fry in his mouth and tossing a wink to Betty, who was smiling at his side. It was a perfectly normal Saturday and Betty loved every moment.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find a link to my fic on my Tumblr @likemereckless
> 
> Constructive criticism is always welcome- I write fan fiction to practice character interaction for the book I’m working on!


End file.
